Circumstances did not permit this, so LaFaive, the fiscal policy director of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, later submitted a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request asking for the records. The state agency then told him that if he wanted the information, he would have to pay $1,500 to cover the cost of making paper copies at 25 cents per page. LaFaive advised the Commission he did not want paper copies. Nevertheless, the MLCC still refused to provide the electronic records without charging the disputed costs for paper copies.
Our government at work.
In one city I lived in, a man was fighting elementary school consolidation.
Consolidation has proven to be a disaster in terms of actual education but the new schools are an excuse to spend money, give teachers raises, hire all manner of specialists and additional bus drivers etc. The new school was also a ‘green’ school and the administrators had visions of some self-righteous politician doing the grand opening.
But this man calmly and rationally questioned the process, the people, the decisions, etc. Unfortunately, in order for him to build his case he had to obtain most of his documents from the school district. As you can imagine, they slow-walked whatever they could and like the man in this article, demanded exorbitant sums for single-page copies and, eventually, for electronic documents - even forwarded e-mails.
Leftists love to point to the peak of the government ziggurat as a thing of beauty but most of government is found in the blocky, ugly base.